Chapter 29 – I Wanna Know You

Note: Chapter Title from Hannah Montana's song 'I Wanna Know You'

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or any of its characters. Also, I'm super disappointed in how much Hannah Montana has shown up in this story but we're gonna leave that alone and pretend I haven't noticed for my own sanity.

Now that that's out of the way, let's begin…

Last time,

"We need to push him over the edge, and for that I have a plan. But it's going to take some convincing."

"Convincing of who?"

Harry smirks,

"Del Black."

Now,

"You ready for this?" Sirius asks his kids as they sit and wait for Del to be brought into the visitation area.

"Yep, no, no, yes?" Hermione replies nervously.

Sirius chuckles, throwing an arm around his daughter's shoulders, "It's gonna be fine, Mio. She'll love you, you'll love her."

"And hopefully, the whole 'you love Uncle Moony' thing won't even come up," Harry throws in, earning an unhappy look from everyone present, that being Sirius, Remus, Harry, and Hermione.

"Here she comes," Remus suddenly says, looking behind them.

Del walks into the room, seeing them and immediately coming over, "Harrison? Hermione?"

Hermione's eyes fill with tears, "Mum." She goes over and hugs her tightly.

It only lasts a moment because Del notices the guards looking antsy, but it's more than Hermione has had for her entire life. "How are you both?"

"Good, we're good," Hermione replies as they all sit down around the table. Harry says nothing. Hermione elbows him, "Right Harry?"

"Yep."

Del looks to Sirius who just shakes his head exasperatedly. "I'm glad you're both here."

"Can't have been that desperate to see us," Harry says.

"Harry!" Hermione snaps.

"What? She isn't! If she actually gave two shits about us she'd have worked with Uncle Moony and Snape to be freed so that she could actually be with us. I mean what are we even doing here, Hermione?"

"Meeting our mother!"

"I don't have a mother. I never have." Del takes a deep breath, holding back the pain her son's words cause her.

Sirius clears his throat, "Why don't we give you two a minute?" He suggests, gesturing for Remus and Hermione to go with him. Del looks to Hermione uncertainly, but Sirius smiles, "We'll be back, I promise."

Hermione hugs her again before taking Sirius' hand as they walk away.

"Harry, I do care about you both, more than anything."

"Oh I know," Harry says, "That's why you're here. Dumbledore did something that made you think being in here would protect Mio and I more than you ever could outside." Del frowns in confusion. Harry smiles, "Yes, sorry about that little fit but, Sirius is quite predictable in how he reacts to things and I needed to speak to you alone."

"What's going on?" Del asks.

"I've been told that above all else you dislike injustice." Del nods. "Well, I need your help to find some. See, things on the outside aren't exactly like you've been led to believe. Hermione and I haven't been safe, we grew up in abusive situations. Hermione recently got over a drug addiction and I've been dealing with an eating disorder, both as a result of the way we've been raised. We needed you, but you were told otherwise."

Del looks horrified, "T-They never said," She tells him.

"I know. Uncle Moony and Snape didn't know what was going on, not really, and they had no idea where Hermione was. But Dumbledore knew, he knew everything. He's doing bad things and hurting a lot of people. We need your help to stop him." Harry braces himself mildly, "Please, Mum."

"How?" Del asks, a frown on her face but no trace of hesitation.

"Testify against him with whatever it is he did to keep you in here, and tell the truth about him lying about Mio and I and our safety."

"Testify in what?"

"There's going to be a trial, and it's not going to be any wizengamot or minister that decides the verdict, it's going to be every witch and wizard in Great Britain."

"How are you going to manage that?" Del asks him, surprised by the person her son has grown to be.

"I'm pretty well known, I have connections, it's all part of the plan."

Del looks up to see Sirius and the others walking back over, she takes Harry's hand, "I'll do whatever I can to help," She says quietly.

Harry nods, "Thank you."

"How's everything here?" Hermione asks as they sit back down.

"Well Harry was just telling me how sickeningly adorable the two of you are being," Del says, looking between Remus and Sirius, "And it's about bloody time."

"Hold on, you knew how he felt?" Remus asks, "Did everyone know except me?"

"Literally everyone on the planet, Uncle Moony," Hermione replies.

Sirius just takes his hand, "It's okay, Moons. You were worth the wait."


Lucius Malfoy takes a deep, centring breath before he opens the door to his own study. "You wanted to see me, My Lord?"

"Yes, Lucius, come in," Voldemort replies, "You've proven your loyalty to me, despite the small diary mishap." Lucius winces at the reminder of that punishment. "As such, I have decided to tell you what Bellatrix was doing when I had her away from here."

Lucius looks surprised, not bothering to school the expression. The two have had a looser relationship since Harry had moved in. Truly though, he is shocked that the Dark Lord would tell him this. A mere month after being sprung from Azkaban, Voldemort had sent Bellatrix on some kind of assignment, she wasn't seen again for months only to come back as though nothing had changed. Yet it was after that that she began working against Voldemort, Lucius is sure of it. And that, ultimately, led to her death. He doesn't understand, not until Voldemort turns around and the truth is revealed in his arms.

"This is Delphini Black. The daughter of the traitor…and of me."

"…Oh…"

"I don't want her. Not after what her mother did. Bellatrix forfeited the child's right to my protection."

"My lord?" Lucius questions in shock.

"Find somewhere else for her to be."

"My Lord, your Son will not appreciate that," Lucius warns.

"I will handle my son, Lucius. Now deal with the child."

Lucius walks up, taking the child from Voldemort's arms and walking out of the room. He looks at the baby, jet black hair like her parents, though it doesn't appear to be growing curly. Blue eyes like her Father once had. "What the bloody hell am I supposed to do with a child that shouldn't exist?"


Jamie Lupin is having a perfectly ordinary day at WWW, then her Uncle walks in carrying a baby.

"Uncle Lu?"

"Jamie, how are you?" Lucius asks with a pleasant smile.

"Confused, not that you don't already know that."

Lucius chuckles, nodding, unsure when his niece learnt about his empathy but unsurprised. "I need a favour."

"What kind of favour?"

"Could you look after this child for me?"

"Whose child is it?" Jamie asks suspiciously.

"Your mother's."

Jamie drops the pen she was holding. "What?"

"Yep, Care to watch her for a while?"

"Uncle Lu, what the bloody hell is going on!" She asks as she wanders over to see the baby.

"Language! Don't teach your sister to swear," Lucius chastises. Jamie continues gaping at him incredulously, "Okay this may not have been the best way to go about this."

Jamie takes the baby from her Uncle, smiling down at her even as she replies snippily to her Uncle, "Gee, you think?"

"I need her away from the war, away from all of it, and I need your Dad to not know about her. Not yet."

"If she's here, he'll find out about it," Jamie tells him, "Maybe Wormy? Benni told me he's innocent and free and with a family of his own now," She suggests, obviously less than impressed with the trial's outcome on that front.


"I'm being watched by a lot of people," Peter tells Lucius, "If she stays here it won't be a secret for long and I doubt your boss would be too impressed with the arrangement."

Lucius sighs, watching as Bridget rests the baby in Rema's lap because she'd wanted to hold the 'potato' as she had called it. There's a limited vocabulary at Rema's age, she's doing her best.

"Did Bellatrix have any other family?" Bridget asks, Peter nods, "Maybe they could help?"


Knock, knock, knock

"I'm coming!" Andromeda Tonks is more than a little surprised to find her brother-in-law at the door. "Lucius, what do you want?"

"Nice to see you as well, Dromeda."

"Lucius," Andromeda says expectantly.

Lucius pulls the baby out of his coat which had been protecting her from the rain, "This is your niece. Bellatrix had a child prior to her death and I need someone to look after her without anyone, especially Remus or Dumbledore, finding out."

Andromeda's eyes widen. She takes the baby from Lucius and then pulls him inside and shuts the door. "I have another niece?"

Lucius nods, feeling hopeful. "She could be in a lot of danger, can you keep her safe?"

"I…Lucius I wish I could but she wouldn't be safe here."

"What could possibly be unsafe about this place?"

A small explosion is heard, "It's fine! I got it, it's fine," Tonks' voice comes from within the house.

Lucius nods, "Right, that."

"I love my daughter but if she knows about this, so will Remus." Lucius sighs, taking the baby back from her Aunt. Andromeda frowns, "You need someone completely separate from the wizarding world."

"Like who?"

Drom shrugs, "What about Phia?"


Lucius arrives in Vienna, waits for two hours before he's able to see the queen, and is finally shown in to the throne room.

"You have a visitor, Your Highness. He says he is an old friend of yours?"

Phia looks away from some letter that had just been handed to her and sees Lucius. She smiles, "More like family. It's good to see you, Lucius," She says as she walks over. "Why do you have a child?"

"Well, you remember Bella, don't you?" Lucius asks.

Phia raises an eyebrow as she leads Lucius out of the room to walk through the halls, "Was once practically my sister-in-law, yes, the name rings a bell."

Lucius sighs, "It's her child. Anyway, I was hoping she could stay here with you."

"You're kidding, right?" Before Lucius has a chance to respond, he spots Petunia walking over.

"Lucius, hi," Petunia greets confusedly.

"Hi," Lucius replies, just as confused. He's not sure if it's more or less confusing when Phia winds an arm around Petunia's waist.

"Lucius, I have a country to run and there's already a teenager here. I don't have time to look after a baby as well, let alone attempt to hide from my brother that I'm caring for the child of his dearest Trixie."

"Phia, I have exhausted everyone imaginable. I asked Jamie, I asked Peter, I asked Andromeda, there is no one left to ask!"

Phia looks to Petunia who sighs, "I need to be there for Dudley right now and sort out this divorce and custody and such with Vernon."

Lucius sighs and nods.

"What about Severus?"

"If Severus knows something, Phia, so does Remus. There's no way he doesn't tell him."

"If it's for the safety of the child, I think he'll surprise you," Phia replies.


"Severus," Lucius begins as he walks into his friend's office and shuts the door behind him. "Do you have any idea where I could stash a baby without Remus, Dumbledore, or the Dark Lord finding out about it?"

Severus raises an eyebrow, "A few, why?"

Lucius pulls the baby out of his robes. "No, please, don't ask," Lucius requests when Severus opens his mouth.

"Leave it with me, I know someone who will know someone. What's the kid's name?"

Lucius hesitates a moment on the name, he hadn't given it to any of them. But the kid can't go her whole life without a name. "Delphini."


Severus spends the rest of the day in The Graveyard doing work and ensuring no one sees Delphini as he waits for Inimicus to turn up. Being a Zombie who doesn't sleep has given him endless patience for waiting until people are around.

"Severus?" Harry asks in surprise when he walks in.

"Harry, how did it go with Del?"

"She's on board with the plan."

Severus chuckles, "Well, that's good, but it's not quite what I meant."

Harry sighs, sitting beside his God-Father. "I had this friend a long time ago, she was everything to me. My best…my only friend. But she moved away. I found out years later that she's a witch, that she'd known who I am all along and allowed me to think my parents died in a car crash. Of course, she didn't know the real truth, but she thought she did and she kept it from me. Del…she had the whole world lying to me and it made me realise."

"Realise what?" Severus asks, surprised by how open his nephew is being.

"It made me realise that sometimes we do hide things from people, trying to protect them from what we think they can't handle. I've done the same. I've been so angry at everything for so long, angry at all of you as well. But how could you be expected to look me in the eye and tell me that my Father tried to kill me, my Dad is in Azkaban for trying to help him, and my mother is in Gaol as well for a totally unrelated reason but can't get out because my Father murdered her brother and My Dad supposedly helped him do that and then killed my uncle. I mean, it's ridiculous, it's not something you tell a kid. And yeah, my childhood sucked, but it would have sucked more if I'd known that all along. Even if possession and false accusations and kidnappings mean that none of that is quite accurate…I'm lucky no one told me. What it really made me realise is that I don't hate my Mother." Harry looks at his hands for a moment before admitting quietly, "I want to know her." He looks back up, "Is that stupid?"

"No, Harry. It's not stupid at all." He smiles, "And I'm absolutely certain that she wants to know you too."

"What are you doing down here, anyway?" Harry asks him after a few moments of silence.

"Erm, actually, I was hoping you'd know of somewhere I could hide a baby where she would be looked after in secrecy." Severus grabs the baby from the open drawer that he had lined with blankets to make comfortable.

Harry raises an eyebrow, looking intently at the child for a moment before his eyes widen minutely, "Dobby!"

"Harry Potter! Dobby is very happy to see Harry Potter, Sir," The House-Elf says as he appears.

"Dobby, how would you like a better paying job than you have now?" Harry asks him.

"Dobby is always looking to push himself further to make a place for paid house-elves."

"Do you have any experience with infants?"

"Of course, Dobby helped to raise Young Masters Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Knott, and Zabini and Mistresses Lupin, Parkinson, and Greengrass," Dobby replies.

"Dobby, glad to see you're doing well," Severus greets in amusement.

"Master Snape! Dobby is glad to see you are well as well."

Harry clears his throat, "Dobby, would you be willing to look after a baby in secret and make sure no one finds out about it? Obviously I shall pay you to do so."

"Harry, you don't have to. It's my favour, I can-"

"Either you underestimate how far I am willing to go for that child or you don't know who it is."

Severus frowns in confusion, "I know her name, nothing else."

Harry smiles at the baby as he takes her from Severus' arms and holds her to his chest. "I will go to the ends of the earth to protect Delphini. I am more than willing to do this. Besides, I have an idea where you can hide with her, Dobby. That is, if you wouldn't mind apparating us there, Severus?"


Severus Snape, Harrison Riddle-Potter-Black, Delphini Black, and the Free-Elf Dobby walk in to Potter Manor, a place left untouched by human hands for almost fifteen years. Well, Delphini doesn't walk, Harry carries her, but that's beside the point.

"No one will find them here," Severus says as they walk in. Only, the house seems to be…well…remarkably liveable.

"Master Potter!"

"Master Potter!"

"Master Potter!" Three house-elves appear in front of the group.

"Err, hi?" Harry says unsurely.

"Oh, we didn't even think…" Severus trails off. "Harry, this is Flossy, Mimah, and Tessel. The house-elves of the Potters."

"We had three house-elves?"

"Well, your grand-parents had two. Mimah was brought on after they died, back during the first war when the house was being used by Tonks' parents to look after at-risk kids. Only, a fourth was as well, where's Kollie?" Severus asks the house-elves before him.

The three exchange frightened looks. "Flossy doesn't know sir, Kollie answered a call from Master Potter and never came back, Sir."

"Which Master Potter?" Severus presses.

"Young Master James, Sir. Master James was in trouble and called for help. Kollie went to help but Flossy, Mimah, and Tessel were busy with the children, Sir. Kollie didn't come back and Master James…" Flossy bursts into tears, pulling on her ears.

"Hey, it's not your fault," Harry tells them as he kneels down. "I don't know what happened, but I know that house-elves are a good lot, they do everything they can to help. Just because it doesn't work doesn't mean it wasn't enough, because any bit of help means everything when you are in trouble. What happened to Uncle James wasn't Kollie's fault, and it wasn't yours."

Flossy walks forward, "Potters have always been kind to their house-elves. Yous are different, Master Potter, Sir."

Harry looks uncomfortable and clears his throat, "Flossy, Tessel, Mimah, this is my friend Dobby," Harry introduces.

"Dobby is pleased to meet you," Dobby tells them.

"Now, it's clear you liked serving my family, but I have to admit that I'm uncomfortable with having servants. So," Harry begins, "If I were to free you, ah, let me finish," Harry requests, holding up a hand to stop the protests, "If I were to free you but hire you to continue working here as you have been, would you agree to that? You'll still live here and work for me, but you'll be paid for it, and you can have all the clothes you want."

The three hesitate, conversing quickly before the stand before Harry again. "We agree, Sir."

"Okay, we're going to need day clothes and pyjamas for all of you. What colours do you all like?" Harry asks them.

Severus grabs some spare parchment and quills and such out of his pocket, transfiguring them into velvet three piece suits.

"Mimah likes Orange, Master Potter, Sir," Mimah tells him. Harry looks to Severus who raises an eyebrow. Harry nods to him. He sighs and changes one of the suits to be a bright orange and gives it to Harry who hands it to Mimah.

"Wow," Mimah says, running her hands over the fabric. Tears fill her eyes, "Thank you, Sirs. Mimah is grateful."

"What about you, Tessel? What colour do you like?" Harry asks, looking to the correct House-Elf.

"Tessel likes the sky, Sir," He replies.

"Severus?" Severus sighs, changing one of the suits to be sky blue. Harry gives it to Tessel who launches himself forward and hugs Harry. Harry shifts to protect Delphini but hugs the House-Elf back. "Flossy?"

Flossy frowns in thought before she looks up, excitement in her giant eyes. "Flossy likes rainbows sir!"

"W-"

"Severus," Harry says pointedly. Severus looks annoyed but makes the suit rainbow and hands it over. They then sort out pyjamas for each of the elves and clothes for Dobby too. "All right, now, this is Delphini." He holds the baby out for them to see. "Can you all help Dobby to look after her?"

"Yes, Master Potter," The three Elves chant.

Harry looks down at the child, Delphini yawns before she puts her fist in her mouth, looking up at Harry curiously. Harry strokes her cheek. "You have your Father's eyes, you know," He tells her.

"Who is she, Harry?" Severus asks him.

"The less known about her, the better." Harry looks up, "Look after her, all of you, please."

"We will, Harry Potter, Dobby promises."

Harry finally hands the child over to Dobby before he rises.

Then they walk away.


Harry sits at the window in his dorm, pushing around the food on his plate and not actually eating it. He's avoiding the Great Hall in an effort to keep Dumbledore convinced that he's still under the influence of the Moral Reversal Spell. He stares out of the window, feeling mildly in shock. Benni won't even look at him, everyone seems to be avoiding him, unsure what to think of his behaviour over the last few days. Even the teachers seem to not know how to react. He started this venture because he wanted to teach someone that the World Isn't Kind, he wanted to take control of something for once instead of everything happening to him. He supposes that's why he's always gotten involved when strange things have been happening around Hogwarts. After growing up as he had, always pushed around, often literally, he'd needed to know what was going on and control the outcome, usually by stopping whatever nefarious plot was in place at the time. Then he'd been entered into the Triwizard Tournament against his will, Cedric had been killed, his blood had been taken from him while he was unable to stop it, Umbridge had reigned supreme at the school, and when he'd tried to end all this nonsense and save Sirius, finally able to do something…he'd failed, and Sirius had died.

Perhaps the whole Inimicus thing has been an extreme way to take control, but the world has let him down again, and again, and he's damned sick of it. And now, the Headmaster cast a spell on him that he knows all too well what the grander effects could have been. He took Harry's choice away, took his morals, took his control, and Harry will put that right, he will take it back, no matter what it takes. So yes, Dumbledore will fall, and yes, the Ministry will be pulled apart and put back together greater than it ever has before, and yes, Harry will have great input in the world he lives in. For once, he'll able to help. For once, he can make things better. For once, he will be in control.

Dumbledore will not get away with this.

He. Will. Pay.


"Right then, are we really doing this?" Blaise asks as the original Reapers stand around the meeting table.

Harry nods, "It's time. There's more to do, in general, to stabilise things with my Father and the Ministry. I've made promises to my sister that I intend to keep. But yes, in regards to Dumbledore, we're really doing this."

"What happens after?" Pansy asks, "When this is all over and done. What do you want to do with your life, Harry?" Harry thinks about that before chuckling, seeming rather peaceful.

"I want to live it."

Draco smirks, "Then in two days, Dumbledore falls."